Folders and feeding operators



INVENTOR. WILLIAM B. RAYBUCK June 8, 1965 w. B. RAYBUCK FoLDERs ANDFEEDING APPARATUS June 8,1965 w. B. RAYBuJK 3,138,084V

FOLDERS AND FEEDING APPARATUS Filed April 22 1965 s sheets-sneet 2 A m Nrg N A 53 Y l `l\\\\\ 5 n I I N r. 'I O 'C j f O\ m E 8% El g; L i e OrQ 5 T n Q A 'o c) f" r lNvENToR WILLIAM B. RAYBUCK June 8, 1965 w. B.RAYBucK FOLDERS AND FEEDING APPARATUS 5 Sheets--Sheei'I 3 Filed April22, 1965 IFIIIl as a delivery or gripper cylinder.

Wiiliarn' il. Ray/huela, Lansdowne, Pa., assigner to Frerik iii. LeveyCompany, ine., New York, NY., ai ccrprnation of New Yorir Filed Apr. 22,1%3, Ser. N 274,666 3 Ciaims. (Ci. WIN32) This invention relatesgenerally to the art of printing and more particularly to that aspectthereof pertaining to the folding and cutting of the printed web passingfrom a rotary web-fed printing press.

In modern web-fed printing presses, the printed web passes from thepress at'high speed and must be cut, as-

sembled and folded Vto form signatures for further assembly,folding,andbinding. Various types of cutting and folding mechanisms have beenproposed for thatipurpose andare herein referred to generally asfolders, as is customary in the art.

Most, if not all, of the proposed apparatus for this purpose comprises acutting cylinder or a pair of cuttingv cylinders whereby a continuousfoldedweb, or web which V has been cutA into ribbons and assembled insome manner, is cuttransversely into predetermined lengths, hereinreferred to as signatures, and the lead ends of the vrespectivesignatures impaled on pins, projecting outwardly from the cylinder, andcarried thereby around the cylinder, as the cylinder rotates, to what isknown in the art The cylinderprovided with impaling pins, whether or notequipped with cutting means, shall hereinafter be referred to as a pincylinder. g,

The gripper cylinder is provided with one or more sets of gripperlingers adapted to grasp the impaled lead end of thesignature, clampingit against a gripper pad on the periphery of the gripper cylinder,removing it from the vpins on which it was impaled and carrying itaround j the gripper cylinders as the latter rotates, from which it isvtransferred to further assembly, folding or cutting apparatus, all aswell understood in this art. I

The invention relates more particularly to improvements inthe method andmeans for effecting the transfer of the signature from the pin cylinderto the gripper cylinder and is applicable generally to apparatus of thegeneral type described comprising a pin cylinder and a cooperatinggripper cylinder, the actuation of the pins and grippers of therespective cylinders being coordinated in conventional manner.Apparatus'of this type may comprise a single gripper cylindercooperating with the pin cylinder, but usually will comprise at leasttwo gripper cylinders, particularly since it is usually desirable tooperate a gripper cylinder at a peripheral speed less lthan that of theperipheral speed of the pin cylinder, as well understood in-this art.

Difficultyv has heretofore been experienced in causing the gripperfingers to grasp the signature as the inipaled,

signature approaches the gripper, usually at high speed. To accomplishthis, it is necessary for the gripper fingers ,to pass between thesignature and the body of the pin cylinder.

ynature and the periphery of the pin cylinder. This, howtransversecutters from which the signatures result.

such operation, the assembled ribbons may be passed kover ever, hasinvolved difcultiesand also involves considerable expense. l

I have found that the problem is more economicallyV lbdd patented June8, i965 ICC scribed, by providing means for raising the impaled leadedge of the signature from the peripheral surface of the pin cylinder asit approaches the gripper finger.

In conventional practice, the impaling pins are camoperated so that' theimpaling portion of the piny is projected beyond the periphery of thecylinder at the time of cutti'ng,rwhen impaling is required. Followingimpalcment, the pin is retracted as the signature carried thereby passesbetween the pin cylinder and the gripper cylinder.

These pins are conventionally gradually tapered at their outer ends andonly the tapered portion of the pin is ever projected beyond theperiphery of the pin cylinder.

In accordance with the present invention, I so designed and constructedthe impaling pins as to provide an abrupt shoulder extending generallyperpendicular to the pin axis to the rear of the impaling, taperedportion of the pin and I provide an actuating cam or cams so coordinatedwith the rotation of the cylinder, the peripheral positioning of the pinand peripheral position with respect to the gripping finger of thecooperating gripper cylinder, that the shoulder of the pin is projectedbeyond the periphery of the pin cylinder as the lead `end of thesignature approaches the gripper nger so that the impaled forward edgeis raised by the pin shoulder from the periphery of the pin cylinderVthereby permitting the gripper finger to pass beneath the signature,i.e., between the signature and the normal periphery of the pincylinder.

Thus, in accordance with the present invention, -it is no longernecessaryto cutaway a portion of the normal peripheral surface of thepin cylinder in the vicinity of lthe pins to accommodate the gripperiingers and the cylinder construction is thereby simplified with markedeconomic advantage. Y f

The invention will bev further described and one application thereofillustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: FIG. 1is the fragmentary'diagrammatic representation of a portion of a foldershowing a cutter-pin cylinder and cooperating cutter-block cylinder andtwo cooperating gripper-transfer cylinders,

FIG. 2 is a somewhat fragmentary View partly in section along the line 22 of FIG. l, and

FIG. 3 is anenlarged, detailed sectional view along vrthe line 3 3 ofFIG. 2..

adapted to impale the lead end of the respective signatures resultingfrom the cutting of the incoming folded web or ribbon.

In operation, the printed web passing from the press will usually-be cutlongitudinally into ribbons and the ribbons assembled and folded beforebeing passed to the In a former, fragmentarily indicated at 6, wherebythe assembled ribbons are folded forming a continuous assembly of foldedribbon 7 which passes betweenone or more pairs of cooperating pressurerolls 8 and thence `through the bite between4 the previously describedcooperatingY cylinders 1 and 2. j j,

. ForV simplicity of illustration, as previously noted, we

have'shown in FIG. l the retention of all of the signatures v 3 oncylinder 1. However, in accordance with preferred practice, bothcylinder 1 and cylinder 2 will be provided with cam-operated impalingpins so that alternate signatures are impaled by the pins of differentcylinders, each of which cylinders is provided with one or more transercylinders of the gripper type presently to be described.

In the arrangement shown, two gripper cylinders 9 and 10 Vare providedfor transferring the signatures from cylinder 1.

Such arrangement is desirable as it permits the gripper cylinders to berotated at a further reduced peripheral speed.

As understood by the art, the peripheral speed of the gripper cylinderswill be less than that of the pin cylinder 'so that the impaled leadends of the signatures will be carried into the jaws of the grippers,indicated at 1i, as they approach the respective gripper cylinder. Also,as well understood by the art, the number of sets of grippers for eachgripper cylinder will depend upon the number or" gripper cylindersemployed and whether all of the signatures or only alternate signaturesare impaled by the cooperating cutter-pin cylinder.

As is customary in the art, and as shown on FIG. 2 of the drawings, thelead ends of the signatures are irnpaled by a plurality oflongitudinally-spaced pins and similarly a plurality oflongitudinally-spaced gripper iingers will be provided. Advantageously,two impaling pins may be provided for each gripper linger and spaced onopposite sides .of the gripper lingers. The pin cylinders 'and thegripper cylinders may be either plain or sectional, and actuation andcoordination of the action of the sets of impaling pins and the sets ofgripper lingers may be effected by automatically operating cammechanisms controlled by stationary cams positioned at one or both endsof the respective cylinders.

What has heretofore been described with reference to the drawings iswell-known to the art, constitutes no part of the present invention andtherefore need not be described in further detail.

As indicated on FIG. 1 of the drawings, a cam 12 is positioned at 'oneend, or at each end, of cylinder 1 for eiecting projections andretraction of the impaling pins, and cams 13 and 14 are positioned atone end of the respective delivery cylinders 9 and 10 `for actuating thegripper iingers. Also, in cooperation with cylinder 1, there areprovided two power-driven timing rollers 1S and 16, just preceding thedelivery cylinders 9 and 10, respectively, for directing the signaturesinto the jaws of the grippers 11 of cylinders 9 and 10, respectively.

In referring more particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing, theimpaling pins of cylinder 1 are, in accordance with the presentinvention, provided with abrupt shoulders 17 which determine the extentof penetration of the pins through the signatures and serve to liftsignatures, as heretofore described. The shanks 18 of the pins extendinwardly of the cylinder and their inner ends are connected throughflexible connections 19 to the respective arms 20 which in turn arerigidly connected to the cam shaft 21l as by means of collars andtension bolts 22 as more'clearly shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing. Theshaft 21 is in turn rigidly connected to the cam arm 21a (FIG. 2), theeXtreme end of which is provided with a cam follower 23 secured to thecam arm by suitable means, for instance by bolt and nut indicated at 24.The cam follower is actuated by means of cam 12 positioned at one end ofthe cylinder 1 or if desired a separate cam may be positioned atopposite ends of cylinder 1.

As previously noted, the impaling pins and the cam mechanism associatedtherewith are so constructed and arranged that on approaching thegrippers of cylinder 9 n or the pins with the lead end of the signatureimpaled thereon are moved outwardly so that the shoulders 1'7 thereofproject a substantial distance beyond the periph- .ery of the cylindersthus raising the lead end of the signature so as to permit the grippernger to slide between the signature andthe periphery of the pin cylinder1.

The gripper comprises an arm or nger 25 secured to a block 2d, as bymeans of machine screws 27, positioned within the gripper cylinder, theblock being secured to a cam shaft 28, said shaft being actuated bymeans of cam arm 29 secured to one end of the shaft and provided at itsouter end with a cam follower 30 which cooperates with the cam member 13positioned at one end of the gripper cylinder.

As more clearly shown on FIG. 3 of the drawings, the gripper lingers areso'constructed and arranged that the outer portion thereof extends alongthe periphery of the gripper cylinder in the direction opposite thedirection of rotation of that cylinder. Advantageously, the outer endsof the respective gripper fingers are curved outwardly from theperiphery of the gripper cylinder to facilitate the sliding of thesignatures beneath the gripper fingers.

The cylinders 9 and 10 are mounted on shafts indi-.

cated at 32 which are rotatably supported by the side frames 33 of thefolder and are driven by conventional means. The cylinder 1 is similarlymounted and driven. However, the cam members 12, 13 and 14 are supportedby conventional means in a fixed position.

The pins and operating mechanism therefor may be contained in the blocks31, more clearly shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, inserted in the bodyof cylinder 1 and secured thereto by means of machine bolts 34. Thecutter-block 3 may be secured to the block as by means of machine bolts36 and sleeves 37 may be provided for supporting the Shanks of theimpaling pins.

Similarly, the mechanism for supporting and actuating the gripperfingers may be contained within blocks 33 inserted in the grippercylinder and secured thereto by means of machine bolts 39, the gripperpads 40 being secured to the block as by means of machine bolts 41. Forcushioning the clamping action of the gripper arms, so as to avoiddamaging the signature, it is desirable to provide means, such as a coilspring indicated at 42 which cooperates with member 43 secured to thecam shaft 28 as by means of machine bolts 44, to control the tension ofthe gripping arm against the gripper pad.

As will be apparent from the foregoing description, the cooperating cammechanisms will be so constructed and arranged that, as the impaled leadend of the signature approaches the gripper cylinder 9, or the grippercylinder 19, as the case may be, the pins impaling that signature willbe extended outwardly from the periphery of cylinder 1 so that theshoulders 17 of the pins lift the lead end of the signature away fromthe periphery of the pin cylinder. Coincident therewith, the cammechaism of the gripper assembly moves the gripper tinger 25 outwardlyfrom the periphery of the gripper cylinder so that the gripper lingerwill slide between the signature and the periphery of the pin cylinder,it being understood that the lead end of the signature is moving at ahigher rate of speed than the peripheral speed of the gripper cylinderand'that movement ofthe lead of the signature'into the jaws of thegripper is further promoted by the timing rollers 15 or 16, in accordwith conventional practice. By further coordinated action of the cammechanism of the gripper cylinders, the gripper Y rotates and at leastone cooperating rotatablyrnounted gripper cylinder equipped with atleast one set of automatically operated gripper ngers for gripping thelead ends of the signatures when they are released from the pin, theimprovement in means for transferring the signature from the pincylinder to the gripper cylinder cornprising so constructing the pins ofthe pin cylinder so as to provide an impaling portion of the pin and anabrupt shoulder thereon extending generally perpendicular to the axis ofthe pin, and positioned to the rear of the iinpaling portion of the pin,and cam means so constructed aud arranged as to move the pin outwardlybeyond the periphery of the pin cylinder a distance such that theshoulder thereof raises the signature from the cylinder surface as thepin approaches a gripper finger to permit the gripper linger to passbetween the signature and the periphery of the pin cylinder.

2. The apparatus of claim l in which the gripper fingers are soconstructed and arranged that the outer portion thereof extends alongthe periphery of the gripper cylinder in the direction opposite thedirection of rotation of said cylinder, the outer ends of the respectivegripper being curved outwardly from the periphery of the grippercylinderto facilitate the -sliding of the signature beneath the gripperlinger.

3. The apparatus of claim l in which the gripper cylinder is providedwith a plurality of gripper lingers spaced longitudinally along itsperiphery and the pin cylinder is provided with a plurality of the pinsspaced longitudinally along its periphery to cooperate with the gripperlingers, one pin being positioned adjacent each side of each gripperlinger.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 269,184 12/82Crowell 271--82 2,555,267 5/51 Crafts.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. ROBERT B. REEVES, Examiner.

1. IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND TRANSMITTING PRINTED SIGNATURES FROM AROTARY WEB-FED PRINTING PRESS COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE ROTATABLY-MOUNTEDPIN CYLINDER EQUIPPED WITH IMPALING PINS AND MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLYPROJECTING THE PINS FOR IMPALING THE LEAD ENDS OF THE SIGNATURES AND FORRETRACTING THE PINS AS THE CYLINDER ROTATES AND AT LEAST ONE COOPERATINGROTATABLY-MOUNTED GRIPPER CYLINDER EQUIPPED WITH AT LEAST ONE SET OFAUTOMATICALLY OPERATED GRIPPER FINGERS FOR GRIPPING THE LEAD ENDS OF THESIGNATURES WHEN THEY ARE RELEASED FROM THE PIN, THE IMPROVEMENT IN MEANSFOR TRANSFERRING THE SIGNATURE FROM THE PIN CYLINDER TO THE GRIPPERCYLINDER COMPRISING SO CONSTRUCTING THE PINS OF THE PIN CYLINDER SO ASTO PROVIDE AN IMPALING PORTION OF THE PIN AND AN ABRUPT SHOULDER THEREONEXTENDING GENERALLY PERPENDIC-